The Tobacco Industry: Another Colonial Cash Crop

The tobacco industry in Puerto Rico produced not just cigars but one of the most remarkable labor cultures in the Americas — where factory workers listened to readings of literature, philosophy, and political theory while they rolled tobacco.

The Industry:
- Tobacco was cultivated in Puerto Rico since the Taíno era
- After 1898, American companies invested heavily in cigar manufacturing, establishing factories in Caguas, Cayey, Bayamón, and other towns
- Puerto Rico became a significant cigar producer, with the 'Porto Rican' cigar brand marketed in the mainland U.S.
- The industry employed thousands of workers — many of them women — in hand-rolling operations
- The industry declined from the 1930s onward as machine-made cigarettes replaced hand-rolled cigars and mainland competition increased

The Lectores (Readers):
The most distinctive feature of Puerto Rican tobacco factories was the lector — a worker hired by fellow workers to read aloud while they rolled cigars. The tradition, brought from Cuba, became a central feature of Puerto Rican labor culture:
- Lectores read newspapers, novels, political theory, and labor organizing literature
- Workers heard readings of José Martí, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Marx
- The tradition created one of the most literate working classes in the Americas
- Factory owners periodically tried to suppress the lectores — recognizing that educated workers were harder to exploit
- The tradition continued until factory mechanization made it impractical

Labor Organizing: Puerto Rican tobacco workers were among the most organized in the Caribbean:
- The Federación Libre de Trabajadores (FLT) organized tobacco workers
- Santiago Iglesias Pantín used tobacco unions as the base for the broader labor movement
- Tobacco workers led strikes for better wages and working conditions
- Women tobacco workers organized for both labor rights and women's rights
- Luisa Capetillo — the feminist labor organizer — was a lector in tobacco factories before becoming an organizer

Colonial Economics: The tobacco industry followed the colonial extraction pattern:
- American companies owned most large factories
- Puerto Rican workers provided skilled labor at low wages
- Finished products were sold on the mainland at mainland prices
- Profits flowed to American investors
- When the industry declined, factories closed and workers were left without alternatives

The lectores are a powerful symbol: even in a colonial factory, rolling cigars for American profit, Puerto Rican workers insisted on feeding their minds.